FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a refill container 1 of a conventional example. The refill container 1 is a plastic molding, which generally consists of a refill main body 2 and a lid portion 3. The refill main body 2 and the lid portion 3 are linked by means of a hinge portion 4. In this configuration, the lid portion 3 can be rotated about the hinge portion 4 so as to be opened or closed relative to the refill main body 2.
The refill main body 2 defines a housing space 5, in which an internal tray 6 (made of plastic) filled with a cosmetic material 7 is housed. In this conventional configuration, the bottom portion of the internal tray 6 is first introduced and thus the internal tray 6 is housed in the refill main body 2. Therefore, when the internal tray 6 is housed in the housing space 5, the cosmetic material 7 is still in an exposed state. Then, the lid portion 3 is closed in order to protect the surface of the cosmetic material 7 as shown in FIG. 2, in which state the shipping and selling is carried out.
There is, however, a problem with the refill container 1 of the above-mentioned conventional configuration. The problem is that the refill container 1 consisting of the refill main body 2 and the lid portion 3 is large in size and therefore high in cost. When the internal tray 6 is taken out of the refill container and thereafter is put into a compact, then the refill container 1 is discarded as waste. Therefore, where there are requirements of reducing waste volume and reducing cost, the refill container 1 needs to be designed as small as possible and to use less material to form the container itself.
Further, with the conventional refill container 1, in order to mount the internal tray 6 in the refill container 1, first it is necessary to place the internal tray 6 into the housing space 5 of the refill main body 2 and thereafter it is necessary to close the lid portion 3. Thus, there are two steps required. As a result, the operation of mounting the internal tray 6 in the refill container 1 is complicated and is of low efficiency. This is considered to be a problem.